nation0428

40 THE NATION TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015
LAW REPORT
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NIGERIA
HOLDEN AT ABUJA
ON FRIDAY THE 17 TH DAY OF APRIL, 2015
BEFORE THEIR LORDSHIPS
MAHMUD MOHAMMED, J.S.C.
JOHN AFOLABI FABIYI, J.S.C.
SULEIMAN GALADIMA, J.S.C.
OLABODE RHODES-VIVOUR, J.S.C.
MUSA DATTIJO MUHAMMAD, J.S.C.
CLARA BATA OGUNBIYI, J.S.C.
KUDIRAT MOTONMORI OLATOKUNBO KEKERE-EKUN, J.S.C.
SC.643/2014(REASONS)
(2015) LPELR-24588(SC)
Only a party’s leadership can
determine existence or proof of division
BETWEEN:
HON. IFEDAYO SUNDAY AGBEGUNDE ————————————— APPELLANT
AND
THE ONDO STATE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY & ORS —————- RESPONDENTS
LEAD JUDGMENT DELIVERED BY MUSA DATTIJO MUHAMMAD, J.S.C.
On 19th March, 2015, having found the appeal and the cross-appeal to which this judgment
relates unmeritorious, the Court dismissed the two and promised to give the reasons. The
reasons are provided anon.
THE appellant contested and won the
Akure North/South Federal constituency
seat on the platform of the Labour Party.
He abandoned the party and defected to the
Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). He asserts
that the factionalization or division in the Ondo
State Chapter of the Labour Party accounts for
his defection to the Action Congress of Nigeria.
By an originating summons filed on the 26 th
January, 2012, the Appellant as Plaintiff
commenced Suit No. FHC/AK/CS/31/2012 at
the Federal High Court, hereinafter referred to
as the trial Court, seeking the interpretation of
Section 68(1) (a) and (g) of the 1999 Constitution
as amended and a declaration thereon that by
virtue of the proviso to the Section he is
entitled to remain the elected member for
Akure North/South Federal constituency
inspite of his defection from the Labour Party
that sponsored him to the Action Congress of
Nigeria, (ACN). Appellant also urges that the
Defendants, the Respondents herein, be
restrained from howsoever tampering with
his right to the Federal seat.
STAKEHOLDERS have called for laws to
regulate the importation of used Euro
pean cars, which have reached the end
of their lives.
A former Lagos State Attorney-General, Mr
Olasupo Shasore (SAN) said such laws should
set a limit to the age of vehicles brought into
the country.
He spoke in an interview with reporters at
a colloquium in Lagos to mark the 2015 Earth
Day, organised by the Kuramo Conferences
and the Resource Innovation and Solutions
Network Nigeria (RISSN), initiators of the
Sustainability School Lagos. The theme was:
Solutions for a sustainable future.
A German chemist and toxologist, Dr.
Beate Kummer said Nigeria had become a
dumping ground for “end-of-life” vehicles
The 1st - 3rd Respondents not only contested
Appellant’s claim, they counter-claimed
against him. They assert that by virtue of the
very proviso to Section 68(1) (g) of the 1999
Constitution as amended, the Appellant who,
on the basis of the factionalization or division
in the Ondo State Chapter of the Labour Party
alone, defected to the Action Congress of
Nigeria, automatically ceases to be the elected
member for the Akure North/South
Constituency. It was Defendants’ prayers that
the seat be declared vacant and the
Independent National Electoral Commission
ordered to conduct a bye election for the vacant
seat. Appellant’s claim as contained in his
originating summons and the 1st - 3rd
Respondents’ counter-claim were taken
together. The trial Court in a considered
judgment while dismissing Appellant’s claim
granted the 1st - 3rd Respondents’ counterclaim.
Dissatisfied with the trial Court’s
decision, the Appellant appealed to the Court
of Appeal, Akure Division, hereinafter
referred to as the Court below. The Court in a
•From left: Dr Olarewaju, Dr Nwagwu, Mr Oresanya, Ms. Freyer, Dr Kummer and Shasore
By Joseph Jibueze
meant for recycling in Europe.
She said about 300,000 of such cars were
pushed into Nigeria in 2012, adding: “Nigeria
is a huge market for end-of-life vehicles,
which are sold for dumping prices. These
vehicles are often smuggled from Europe or
North America through over 1,400 illegal
routes.”
Shashore said Nigeria can stop being a
dumping ground for such rejected items
through the enactment of relevant laws and
proper regulation.
“We have learned that there is an end-oflife
designation for European cars. We don’t
have legislation that creates a cut-off period
for the end-of-life of a vehicle, the point at
which a vehicle must be recycled.
well considered judgment dismissed the
appeal decision and affirmed the trial Court’s
decision. Still aggrieved, the Appellant
appealed to the Supreme Court. The 5th and
7th Respondents also cross-appealed against
the Lower Court’s judgment. The sole issue
distilled by the Appellant in his brief of
argument which the Respondents to the appeal,
except the 5th and 7th, seem to adopt as having
arisen for the determination of the appeal,
reads:-
“Whether the Lower Court’s interpretation
and application of Sections 68(1) (a) (g) and
222(a) (e) and (f) of the Constitution of
Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended)
is valid, when it affirmed the trial Court’s
decision, that a dispute at the state level does
not warrant the Appellant’s defection and
consequently arrived at the conclusion that
the National leadership of a political party
determine the existence or proof of division
in a political party.”
On their sole issue, learned Appellant’s
counsel contended that the trial Court’s
interpretation of Section 68(1) (a) and (e) of
the 1999 Constitution and the Lower Court’s
affirmation of same are wrong in law. The
position of the two Courts that it is only a
dispute or crisis which consumes the national
leadership of a political party that entitles the
Appellant who had defected from the party
that sponsored him because of the crisis to
retain his seat, is not what Section 68(1) (a)
and (g) of the 1999 Constitution envisages. A
political party, it was contended, exists at
various levels, to wit, ward, local government,
state and national levels. Crisis at any of these
levels, not necessarily at the national level of
the party alone, submitted learned Appellant
counsel, fits the division Section 68(1) (a) (g)
contemplates as justifying a defection from
the political party that sponsored the defector
as well as the retention by the defector of his
seat. The Appellant, it was further submitted,
was justified to retain his seat having
abandoned the Labour Party that sponsored
him because the state chapter of the party is
factionalized and divided. Further arguing the
issue, learned counsel contended that the rules
of statutory interpretation require the two
Courts to ascribe to the words that make up
Section 68(1) (a) and (e) they are asked to
interprete their ordinary literal meaning
without more. Section 222(a) and (f) of the
Constitution which the Courts relied upon to
“We don’t have legislation that can designate
use of batteries, telephones and our inverters
at home. They become hazardous and
harmful when they are not disposed of properly.
It affects the soil and the water, and
drinking it can lead to cancer.
“If we have the knowledge as legal practitioners,
we can lobby for a framework to be
created. That is a lacuna in our laws right
now. All we do is find ways in which we
discourage it hopefully by increasing the
importation duty.
“Some of these vehicles have reached the
end of their lives in the countries of their
importation. There is no framework.
“We hope that will be one of the points
that should make the agenda of this colloquium,”
Shasore said.
interprete Section 68(1) (a) and (g) only outlines
conditions for the eligibility of an association
to operate as a political party in Nigeria. It
does not, as wrongly held by the Courts, in
any way help in defining the type of division
provided under Section 68(1) (a) and (e). By
erroneously imputing the word “faction” at
the national level of the political party and
cross-referencing the word into Section 222 of
the 1999 Constitution, the Courts stand liable
for reading into the Constitution what the
legislature does not intend. Further relying
on Imah V. Okogbe (1993) 9 NWLR (Pt.316)
159 at 173; (1993) LPELR-1497(SC), AG
Federation V. AG Lagos State (2013) 16 NWLR
(Pt 1380) 249 at 317; LPELR-SC.340/2010 and
Agwuna V. AG Federation (1995) LPELR -258
(SC), learned counsel urged that the Lower
Court’s circumscribed statutory interpretation
rather than the liberal one be discountenanced.
Concluding, learned counsel submitted that
the Lower Court’s wrong resort to the
decisions of the Court in Fedeco V. Goni
(1983) LPELR-1256 (SC) and Abubakar V. AG
Federation (2007) 10 NWLR (Pt 1041) 178;
LPELR-SC.7/2007 does not save its judgment.
Learned counsel urged that the issue be
resolved in their favour and the appeal
allowed.
Responding, learned counsel to the 1st - 3 rd
Respondents submitted that the facts on the
basis of which the Appellant sought his reliefs
and the 1st - 3rd Respondents counter-claimed
against him are not in dispute. The resolution
of the dispute created by the facts, learned
counsel submitted, requires the communal
interpretation and application of Sections
68(1)(g), 221, 222(a)(e) and (f) and 229 of the
1999 Constitution (as amended). The Lower
Court in determining whether and how the
meaning of these Sections relate to these
ascertained facts, learned counsel further
submitted, must be guided by certain rules.
Basic among these rules, it was submitted, is
the duty on the Court to consider the
Constitution from which the particular
sections emanate as a whole and ascribe to the
clear and unambiguous words which make
up the Sections their ordinary literal meaning.
The two Courts have dutifully applied the
relevant principles correctly and rightly
concluded that the type of division envisaged
under Section 68(1) (e) of the Constitution is
one that affects the entire structure of the
political party.
•To be continued next week
Stakeholders seek
laws to regulate used
car importation
RISSN Director Dr Olufemi Olarewaju
called for the strengthening of the legal
framework to reduce the import of rejected
vehicles and other expired and harmful appliances
into Nigeria.
“Advocacy is what we need to be a part of.
We’ll be doing a lot of engagements,” he told
reporters. First of all we don’t even know
what the legal framework is. In terms of abandoned
vehicles for instance, why should a
car that is condemned somewhere in the
world be able to come into Nigeria freely?
“In our situation most of the time the laws
are in the books. We just have challenges in
enforcing them. The legal framework is significant
because it is based on it that the private
sector can operate; they need to obey
the laws of the land. It’s a critical component
of what we need to achieve going forward.”
Managing Director of the Lagos Waste
Management Agency (LAWMA) Mr Ola
Oresanya believes having a strong database
of what is imported would help in regulation.
He, however, argued that what is considered
old or useless in one country may not
been seen as such another, saying: “What is
‘end-of-life’ in Europe may not be ‘end-oflife’
here. You define what is ‘end-of-life’.
It’s a relative word really; it’s not absolute.”
Among the guests were Dr Babatunde
Ajibade (SAN), former Civil Liberties Organisation
(CLO) president, Mrs Ayo Obe;
environmentalist Newton Jibunoh; Country
Director, Africare Nigeria Dr Orode Doherty;
Manager, First Bank Sustainability Centre,
Lagos Business School Dr. Ijeoma Nwagwu;
ms. Baerbel Freyer of the German Industry
and Commerce in Nigeria, among others.